


i can still save this

by kokomo (kokomocha)



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: ( ；∀；), Awkward Tension, Canon Compliant, Constructive Criticism Welcome, Emotions, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I Have Only Two Braincells, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, In Character (At Least I Hope), Lake Lilac Summer Social, Minor cursing, Missing Scene, My First AO3 Post, Romantic Fluff, Season/Series 03, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, Shyness, Slow Dancing, Subtle Moments, They don't know they love each other, Unintentionally Romantic, my poor heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-05-12 05:28:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19222549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kokomocha/pseuds/kokomo
Summary: she swears she can fix it.interaction between david and gwen in s3:e6, when david pulled her in for the last slow dance to prevent her from fucking up any more.





	i can still save this

**Author's Note:**

> yowza! this is my first post on ao3! i'm so excited to be here! 
> 
> this is actually just a test fic, i wanted to put out something short and sweet as my first fic just to get a feel for the program. and tagging. and uploading. and pseuds. and since i am a dumb bitch, i need to practice all this before i start uploading comfortably. so... i give u awkward romantic gwenvid.

“N-Not the slow dance!” Gwen pleaded, shoving the disgruntled Wood Scout to the hardwood floor as she bolted to the Quartermaster. She was a mess. All this effort to repair what she’d single-handedly caused… Not that she actually could repair it.  
Gwen just wanted to make things right. She had seen that Neil was finally noticing that females of romantic interest exist, so she had cracked her knuckles and worked her magic.  
But her magic was shit. And caused more drama than it was worth. She’d crafted the demonic love triangle, except with four socially-inept preteens.  
But she could save it, right? And acknowledge herself as the dependable matchmaker, indulging in the romantic lives of the adolescents she babysits to satiate her need for fictional drama?  
David swept her in his arms in the nick of time, cupping a soft hip in his left hand while gripping her palm in his right and swayed the two to and fro. His stone face was none other than a disappointed look, or at least the most disappointed look he could muster at the moment.  
“You know, Gwen, it’s not very polite for counselors to get involved in campers’ activities,” his brows furrowed as he sighed. He knew how obsessive she could be over dramatic instances, especially ones that she could manipulate to her personal enjoyment. But he didn’t stop to think how far she’d go to witness her romantic dramas in reality.  
Oh, he knew what Max would say about this, “Wow Gwen, are you this starved of entertainment and romance in your own life that you have to fulfill this weird desire of watching clueless dipsh*ts profess their pathetic love to each other? That’s borderline, wait, no, totally f*cking desperate.”  
Yes, David did have to censor the expletives, even if they were just in his head.  
“Wait! Wait! I can still save this!” Gwen begged, frowning, but she didn’t try to pry away. Maybe she’d just given up, realized that she’d reached the extent of her assistance. Let the kids work through it.  
She’d be fine. It’s not her own relationship. She didn’t even have her own relationship to speak of.  
She just wanted some romantic success at this letdown of a camp.  
Gwen’s eyes met with David’s, accidentally. But she couldn’t look away. Not because it was some fairytale-love-at-first-sight-bullshit, nor because she actually secretly wanted to hook up with the absurdly happy-go-lucky cocounselor she was cursed with, but maybe because she just couldn’t bear to gaze upon the mess she created on the dance floor.  
And David, as much as it made her wince to admit it, was a genuine safe place.  
He was dependable. And he knew what he was doing (for the most part). And his radiating positivity was infectious. And she knew she wouldn’t get out of this one.  
She exhaled, and pulled herself closer to David, wrapping lanky arms around his neck. His other hand met at her waist, and his grip loosened, just so he was resting his palms at the curve of her hips. She buried her head in the crook of his neck. He gave a pitiful smile, and continued to rock the two back and forth to the melody of the music.  
“I just wish… I could’ve fixed it,” Gwen sighed, confiding to her cocounselor's collar. She couldn’t look up. She was embarrassed. Realizing the magnitude of the situation she’d caused.  
David, smiling softly, answered, “Sometimes, we just have to let the campers work it out. It’s how they learn, Gwen.” He wasn’t going to reprimand her, although that’s what he was planning on. He felt like she’d learned. And maybe stick with only matchmaking in her fanfictions.  
“I guess so…” she responded, closing her eyes, pulling herself closer to her cocounselor. What was she doing?  
They swayed slowly, Gwen, slumped over his shoulder, arms lazily draped around his neck. Her eyes slid shut, focusing only on the beat of the music. And her dancing partner. She shifted her head back to the crook of his neck, and her chest pushed against his. She could feel his heart beating, pounding. And even when the all-too familiar sounds of a quarrel erupted in the center of the dance floor, she didn’t bother to look up. She was comfortable. And he smelled really good. Which was odd for someone who’s outside, like, all the time.  
The music drew to a close.  
Gwen distanced her torso from David’s until she was able to meet his eyes. Her thumbs absentmindedly toyed with the flesh on the back of his neck, eliciting tiny goosebumps. She sighed, refraining from eye contact at first, but gazed into his light eyes.  
Giving a shy look, Gwen whispered, “Thanks, David.”  
She was embarrassed that she caused this whole ordeal. She was embarrassed that her cocounselor had to physically restrict her from doing any more potential damage. She was embarrassed that she actually enjoyed the dance, and found comfort in her cocounselor. She was embarrassed that she was embarrassed, for Christ’s sake.  
David answered with a genuine grin, “Anytime, Gwen. I’m always here for you. Your heart’s in the right place, but sometimes, you may need to—” he used his forefinger and thumb to emphasize— “tone it down a little with the romance.”  
She laughed, sighing, and it was authentic.

✸✸✸

The mess hall was emptied. Stray streamers lay, beaten. Tables topped with empty bowls of fruit punch welcomed multiple flies. Promotional posters still remained stapled to the rotting plank walls, some torn halfway off. A number of clear plastic cups, abandoned and stained red, sat on the hardwood floor, some crushed by careless feet. A dim fluorescent light from the kitchen illuminated the barren dance floor.  
Outside, crickets chirped dutifully. The summer air hung cool, brisk, but not painfully cold. Standing outside and facing the building, David locked the doors with his carabiner-held keys. He sighed. He’d have to clean the interior tomorrow, no time for tidying tonight. It was almost midnight before the campers cleared out, heading back to their designated homes.  
“Hey,” a voice muttered from behind.  
David jumped out of his skin, his neck whipping to catch the source.  
“O-oh, Gwen, hey! What’re you doing up so late?” he responded, immediately chipper.  
“I couldn’t sleep. Max and Nikki are seeing who can scream ‘penis’ louder,” Gwen groaned, “and Nerris is teaching Harrison some incantations, so I keep seeing smoke coming from their tent.”  
David grew concerned, but disposed of his worries and continued, “...not that I have any problem with it,” he smiled, “...but what made you decide to come on down here? I’d figured you’d be holed up in your bunk binging Prison Moms…”  
Gwen released an inaudible sigh, shifting, crunching pebbles underfoot.  
“I just came to… to thank you, I guess,” she muttered, scratching at her face, eyes darting elsewhere.  
David cocked his head at the sound of this. “For what?”  
Gwen answered transparently, “... because of the whole matchmaking thing. I really fucked that one up. And you stopped me from doing any more damage. A-Andthedancewasnice.”  
David’s eyebrows rose as rose roamed his cheeks.  
He presented the most genuine smile she’d seen from him. Teeth partly exposed. Corners curved slightly, bashful and embarrassed and… safe. A shy, half-smile that spoke more words than words could.  
She added, eyes half-lidded, turning away to leave while delivering her parting line, “But don’t do it again. I'm serious.”

But he swore he saw a tiny grin plastered on her disappearing face.


End file.
